Today marked a very special moment for me – the publishing of my first ever properly produced documentary online. The topic was on an overall reflection of the campaign for Scottish independence. Nobody can dispute that the Yes Scotland campaign was genuinely one of the most mobilised and well noted political grassroots campaigns of all time. Some saw sections of the pro-independence support as controversial, dubbing them as “cybernats” on social media.

Yet my new documentary is an attempt to shatter any lazy myths about people who take the pro-independence position for Scotland. In the programme, six powerfully impressive individuals (three women and three men who all backed a Yes vote in September) – Arlene Caldwell, Clare Archibald, Colin Storrier, Gary Marshall, Jamie Grant and Louise Oliver – make a series of contributions on their reflections about the Yes campaign. They talk about how they came to the pro-independence position, what was good about the campaign, what could have been better about it, what they forecast ahead for the future of Scotland and whether they remain in the political position that they took nearly two months ago.

Also, two other strong and worthy contributors feature in the programme with their own perspectives on the Yes campaign. No voter Duncan Hothersall talks about how he saw the campaign and also gives his analysis on why Scotland is better off in the union and on the Better Together campaign. And Mev Brown takes the position of neutral observer in the programme and gives his perspective on both the Yes Scotland and Better Together campaigns. I anticipate some may ask why the balance in terms of the number of people on the programme is overwhelmingly in favour of the Yes side, but there is one simple reason for that – this documentary is specifically about the Yes campaign overall.

Picture from “The campaign for Scottish independence: a reflection”

The unique selling point about this programme is that it features a mixture of grassroots activists and different voices who deserve a platform to have their opinions heard. And I say this, because too often we see, hear and read about the same faces, voices and writers time and time again on current affairs programming on our televisions, radios and in our newspapers respectively. Don’t get me wrong, I have no doubt that many of the regular contributors in the mainstream media are always worth hearing from, because their contributions are valued. But it’s time to diversify the range of opinions out there and that’s why the online platform via YouTube is a really fantastic one to utilise in terms of getting something sufficient and worthwhile out there for people to observe.

I’ve travelled all over the country to get this documentary produced and spent my own time and money on it. I strongly think that it is in the public interest (in terms of the current political debate in Scotland) to have a programme such as this to be available for viewing. I hope that it will add a significant and much appreciated perspective on the referendum which to this day remains a much talked about subject. You can view the documentary above from now at any time. And you can also Tweet about the programme on Twitter with the following hashtag – #YesReflection

Finally, any further questions, comments or enquiries about the documentary can be made to the following e-mail address: anas@officialanashassan.com